Mooli Paratha – Radish Paratha – Radish Stuffed Flatbread

Mooli Parathais a popular North Indian Flat bread stuffed with grated mooli (radish) which is flavored with Indian spices. Like always there are variations of this paratha. Some like to cook the mooli and then add that as the stuffing to the paratha but for this recipe I am adding raw grated mooli like my MIL does. Although this paratha is common in the breakfast category, it makes a great brunch/lunch option too. Serve it with some Curd/Raita, Pickle Or Green Chutney and top it off with glass of Sweet Lassi. Yumm!!Making Mooli Paratha’s is a bit tricky as this vegetable when grated tends to secrete tons and tons of water. If this water is not drained/squeezed properly, it will make the stuffing wet thus resulting in tearing your paratha while rolling it. So here comes the trick/tip that my MIL does. Keep the dough ready, grate all the Mooli but work with only a small quantity at a time i.e. take about 1/2 quantity of the grated Mooli and squeeze out the water to the best you can. Now to this drained Mooli add the other stuffing ingredients (half in quantity) Then roll, stuff and roast the paratha’s. Repeat the same process for the remaining half batch. This will ensure you minimize the chances for water secretion and spoiling/tearing of paratha. Some may get itchy sensation while handling grated mooli so to avoid that use gloves. I love to use my Potato Ricer/ Press to drain off all the liquid and works well for me. Third but the most important tip which I have learnt the hard way especially while making mooli paratha’s : Roll your parathas keeping the joined side facing up/towards you. Somehow I feel this leads to less tearing compared to if done the other way around. Now to the recipe…

In a bowl add the wheat flour, salt and 1 tbsp oil. Give it a quick mix. Now slowly add little water at a time and keep kneading to make a smooth dough. Now add the remaining 1 tsp oil and give it a final knead and cover and let it rest covered on the counter top for 15-30 mins. To Make Stuffing:

Grate the radish using the large hole grater. Squeeze off all the water either with hand/muslin cloth or potato press. Then add the water drained radish to a clean bowl and to it add the onion, green chillies coriander leaves and all dry spices like red chili powder, cumin seed powder, coriander powder and dry mango powderfollowed by garam masala and salt. Give it all a good mix. Stuffing is ready.

To make the Mooli Paratha:

Divide the dough into 5-6 parts. Take one portion of the dough and roll it into a 4″ diameter circle using rolling pin and some dry wheat flour. Apply some ghee at the center of this circle and place 2-3 tbsp of the stuffing on it. Bring all the ends together and seal tightly. If there is some additional dough at the peak after sealing, remove it and flatten the stuffed dough ball.

Dip the stuffed dough ball into the wheat flour and keeping the joined ends part facing upwards roll it into 6″ diameter circle. Use wheat flour to roll as required. Heat a flat tava (griddle) on medium heat, once hot put this rolled paratha on it. Cook for about a minute and then flip. While the other side is cooking, apply some ghee/butter/olive oil on the side facing up. Again flip and cook the side with butter/ghee/olive oil till its well done and golden in color. Repeat the process for other side too. Once both sides are well cooked remove from griddle. Repeat the entire process to make remaining parathas

Notes:

If you are squeezing the water by hand, wear gloves to avoid getting any itchy sensation.

You need to make sure to squeeze the radish really well to drain the water completely as other wise wetness from the radish can tear the paratha while rolling.

Once you mix the salt and spices into the radish you need to work quickly as exposure to salt will make the radish ooze out more water. So preferably work with small quantity of filling at a time.